Cantonese Fried Rice (BETTER than Takeout!)

The trick is to:

• 1. use short-grain rice (Korean or Japanese rice) which has a more bouncy texture, rather than long-grain rice; and
• 2. add mirin (Japanese rice wine) to the soy sauce/oyster sauce combination. That really does the trick, and this totally makes sense since short-grain rice and mirin are both Japanese ingredients. Hence close to that fried rice I had in NYC : )

I adapted my salmon version into the traditional Cantonese fried rice made with eggs, corn, peas, carrots, onion, and fried onions (for a crunchy touch) which take place in most of my fried rice recipes.

What are the main ingredients to make Cantonese Fried Rice?

• Rice – you can use pretty much any type of rice. For most fried rice dishes, as I mentioned earlier my personal preference goes for short-grain rice to get that moist and bouncy texture. And how convenient for us who always have a bag of Korean rice around.
• Eggs – I add black pepper and a pinch of soy sauce (instead of salt) to season the scrambled eggs.
• Onion – in this recipe I used minced onion. You can also use green onion as a substitute. Or both together but then I don’t recommend adding the fried onion. Just to avoid ending up with an “onion fried rice” rather than Cantonese fried rice.
• Carrot – chop the carrot into very small dice (approx 0.5 cm). Don’t make them too big, they should be the size of peas, ham and corn so that you keep the harmony : )
• Garlic – mince or crush the garlic.
• Ham – either buy some ham already diced or get a big piece of ham and chop it into very small dice (approx 0.5 cm).
• Frozen peas – using frozen peas to stir fry is best, as opposed to canned peas which tend to have a softer texture.
• Corn – can’t omit corn in Cantonese fried rice, right? Canned corn or frozen corn is great!
• Fried onions – this is optional, but my craze for fried onions in fried rice is too immense! If you add them at the very last minute before serving, it brings you this crunchy onion taste. I love it!
• Sriracha (for serving) – this is optional, but gives this spicy kick to your fried rice. I never eat Cantonese fried rice without sriracha unless I’m eating out and the restaurant doesn’t have it. To me, sriracha just makes the difference between fried rice and FRIED RICE. But if you’re not a fan of spicy stuff, better skip it.

For the sauce:

• Mirin (Japanese rice wine)- as I mentioned earlier, try it with and without and you’ll see the difference. Mirin brings this very subtle sweetness to the rice.
• Oyster sauce – not to be omitted in Cantonese fried rice.
• Light soy sauce – make sure not to use dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce will make your entire dish way too salty. Trust my experience.
• Sesame oil – sesame oil always gives a nice flavor to fried rice.
• Black pepper powder – I usually go for black pepper powder to season my sauce rather than regular black pepper. It blends better.

What to serve with?

Fried rice is great for lunch, dinner, and breakfast, as a dish per se. Or as a side with meat, fish, tofu, pretty much in combination with anything you like to pair it with.

Which wok/pan to use?

A carbon steel wok is the traditional way to make fried rice, but if not in hand don’t hesitate to go ahead and use a regular non-stick wok. A cast iron skillet will give you a very similar result as if using a carbon steel wok. Alternatively, use any big pan you have.

How to prepare Cantonese Fried Rice?

1. Cook 2 rice cooker cups of rice in your rice cooker. For short-grain rice, use a rice/water ratio of 1:1 ¼.
2. Refrigerate rice for half a day to one day – prepare it the previous day to the extent of possible and leave it in the refrigerator for one day. Rice must be cold to avoid getting mushy once we stir fry it in the wok.
3. Chop onion and carrots into small dice.

4. Beat the eggs with a pinch of black pepper and soy sauce.

5. Make the sauce by combining all sauce ingredients together.

6. Heat up 1 tbsp cooking oil in a wok on medium-high heat, and add onion and minced garlic. Cook for 30 seconds.

7. Add diced carrots and ham. Cook for 30 seconds.

8. Slide everything to one side, add 1 tbsp cooking oil and pour the eggs. Keep stirring to make scrambled eggs.

9. Once the eggs are cooked, add frozen peas and corn. Stir fry everything for 30 seconds until the peas defrost.

10. Add cold rice, mix it in with all vegetables then pour half the sauce. Stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the other half of the sauce and keep stir-frying for 1-2 min until some rice bits get fried.

11. Before serving, mix in fried onions with the fried rice.

12. For serving, sprinkle 1 tbsp fried onion and sriracha on top. This is optional but makes this fried rice amazing.

Looking for more rice dinner ideas?

• Teriyaki Salmon Bowl
• Dolsot Bibimbap
• Salmon Fried Rice